posted 03-06-200101:17 PM
as per alaska's idea, here is a thread about cooking with your partner (or your friends. cooking in general.) what do you guys make? we love to make pasta. usually we just throw in whatever is in the refrigerator, but we do have one really good recipe. it's not really authentic, i don't think, because we made it up, but whatever. anyway...

pasta a la bemily

boil some water and cook a box of spaghetti.

while you're waiting for the water to boil, start making the sauce. put some olive oil in a pan and let it heat up, and then put in-about 1/3 of an onion, chopped-2 cloves of garlic, crushedand let them saute until they're golden and yummy. then put in some crushed tomatoes, but not too much. put in some capers, maybe some olives if you have them, sundried tomatoes. a little pesto if it's around is yummy, but it's ok if not. some dried basil works well too.let everything cook for a few minutes to meld the flavors.

drain the pasta. put most of it in the pan with the sauce and mix it around. only put as much pasta as you think you guys are going to eat. it works much better than putting the sauce on top of the pasta. also add some parmesan cheese; you can use grated parmasano reggiano (the real thing) or the kraft kind, it's all good.

mangia!

em

------------------Love is a word that is constantly heard Hate is a word that is not.Love, I am told, is more precious than gold. Love, I have read, is hot.But hate is the verb that to me is superb, And love but a drug on the mart.Any kiddie in school can love like a fool, But hating, my boy, is an art. -Ogden Nash

posted 03-06-200101:38 PM
I'm a great fan of chicken curries.. but I don't have a standard recipe since I usually have different things floating around my pantry whenever I feel like making one.

Basically, as long as it has cubed chicken and curry powder in it, then it's a chicken curry. I'm working on a version that contains all of my favourite foods.. ice-cream, chocolate.. should be interesting

But in all honesty, I'm not a great cook, I never learned to do it after leaving home, and only now am I actually trying to avoid takeout and opt to make something myself..

posted 03-06-200102:25 PM
I'm a very good at eating but not at cooking. However, back when I was 12 or so, I wanted to be a chef. I loved cooking back then. I usually made my own recipes, just throwing things together. Surprisingly, the food was pretty good. I'm just too lazy to cook now. That deal about, "I cook, you clean" never works at my house.

Just a suggestion, maybe we should move this thread to another forum, making it available for others to participate.

------------------Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.

posted 03-06-200105:51 PM
lol, i've always been afraid of making curried things. it seems so complex. i am intimidated by anything that takes more than 20 minutes to make. although we did make an apple pie for this past thanksgiving. it wasn't the best pie ever, but it was baked with love.

yeah, we can move it, that would be fine - i put it here because alaska had mentioned it, and i wasn't really thinking about it. maybe body and soul (hey, that would work. soul food, you are what you eat...lol) or it's all about you?

word.

em

------------------Love is a word that is constantly heard Hate is a word that is not.Love, I am told, is more precious than gold. Love, I have read, is hot.But hate is the verb that to me is superb, And love but a drug on the mart.Any kiddie in school can love like a fool, But hating, my boy, is an art. -Ogden Nash

...and I make good pasta with vegtables. You take the noodles and boil them and while they are boiling you fry any kind of vegetables you want. I like broccolli or spinich, and onions, and whatever else is around my trusty little refrigerator. After the noodles are done you put everything in one pan and put some olive oil with it and some hot pepper flakes (if you want). You mix and mix until it is all incorporated. Then you get some grated cheese out put as much as you like on and eat. Yummys...its sooo good.

Plop the ghee or butter in a large saucepan and saute the onions, garlic, red pepper and ginger until transluscent. Add the curry powder and tomatoes and mix into a paste. Add the currants, potatoes, carrots and cauliflower and enough water to half-cover them, cover the pot and simmer until soft. When everything is nice and softened (but not TOO mushy, veggies should still have some texture), add the cashews and orange juice and simmer on low for about five minutes. Serve on basmati or brown rice, top with chopped cilantro to taste, and put wither some mango chutney or plain yogurt on the side.

posted 03-06-200106:50 PM
Oo, cooking. I love cooking. Two of my partners also love it. We love to watch food network and do some of the recipes, like the ones on Alton Brown's "good eats" program (since they're pretty easy.)

Anyways, a completely unhealthy recipe for all of you.

"Death Cake" (the name everyone who I've made this for gives this recipe)

1 12 oz bag chocolate chips or 12 oz semi sweet chocolate1 and a half sticks of butter (I said butter. None of this margarine crap. This is not good for you.)5 eggs and one egg yolk2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 375. Grease a 10" springform pan (a cheesecake pan). Melt the chocolate, the vanilla, and the butter in a double boiler, or over very low heat. When it's melted, remove from the heat and beat in the eggs one at a time, adding the egg yolk last.

Pour into the greased springform pan. Bake for exactly 12 minutes. Take it out then, even if the middle looks undercooked. Let it cool for a few hours, and then keep it in the fridge til your'e ready to serve.

Garnish with whipped cream, mint leaves, fresh raspberries or strawberries. You can also serve it with berry sauce (puree some fresh or frozen berries in the blender, add sugar to taste, run it through a sieve to get rid of the seeds.)

Put the chicken legs in a big pot. Fill with enough water to cover chicken. Simmer for 45-60 minutes.

Remove chicken and let cool, reserving the broth. Debone the chicken, cut it into bite-size pieces, and set aside.

Time to make the dumplings. Melt together the butter and shortening in a medium saucepan. Add the boiling water, stir in the flour and salt, and cook the mixture till it just pulls away from the sides of the pan. Then let it cool a bit and beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Spread the dough out on a floured surface, then cut it into strips (like thick noodles).

Bring the reserved chicken stock to a boil, put in the chicken, and add more water if it needs it. Drop in the dumplings a few at a time and cook 'em till they're done, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Farfalle alla Salmone rapido~this is a really quick and absolutely delicious pasta recipe, and it works the first time you try it, promise~

You’ll need:Farfalle pastaButterSmoked Salmon (about 100g or as much as you can afford)200ml creamgrated peel of one small lemonparsleychivessalt & pepper

Cook pasta, preferably Farfalle (the butterfly pasta). While the pasta is cooking, heat a large pan and melt a generous amount of butter. Throw the smoked salmon (chopped into little bits) into the hot butter and fry for about one minute. Pour the cream into the pan and reduce it on high heat for about two or three minutes. When that is done, add the grated lemon peel. Also add about one tablespoon each of parsley and chives. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Drain the pasta and throw it into the pan with the sauce. Mix well. And you’re done....eat it staight away! It’s absolutely yummy!!!

Potato Cream Soup~this is nice for winter, fills you up quite nicely and gives you this rich, soupy feeling. Yum~

Throw the potatoes in a pot. Add the milk, the broth, the salts and the onion. Make it cook. When it cooks, turn down the heat so it simmers lightly. Let it simmer until the potatoes are done. (That depends on how big your cubes are, really). Take the pot from the heat and put half of the chunky soup into a mixer and have it all pureed up. Put back into the pot and stir well. Add the yoghurt (at that point, the soup shouldn’t boil anymore, or the yoghurt will get all chuncky). And you’re done. Serve with a little parsley and chopped spring onion on top.

Swedish Cinammon Rolls~so this isn’t cooking, but baking, but those rolls are divine and I thought I’d tell you about them. The recipe actually is from Sweden.~

For the filling:250g butter (did I claim this was healthy? Nah!)Brown Sugarcinammon

Dough:Break the yeast into small crumbles and put it into a large bowl. Melt the butter in a pot and add the milk. When the mix is handwarm (NOT WARMER) pour a little into the bowl with the yeast. Stir with a wooden spoon until the yeast has dissolved, then add the rest of the butter/milk mix. Add Sugar and Cardamom. Slowly add the flour to create an even dough. When you’re done, let the dough rise (in the bowl, under a towel, in a warm spot) for about 40 minutes. It should be about twice the size then before.

Filling:Simply mix the butter with so much sugar, that a nice firm sugar-butter mix is created. Add Cinammon to taste (LOTS!

Making the Rolls:Knead the dough for a few minutes. Roll it out on a floured table (or wherever) so that the dough is even and almost square shaped. Put the filling evenly on the dough and then roll the whole thing up to one big roll. Cut into 2cm thick slices. Put them on a baking tray and let them rise (under a towel, in a warm place) for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to about 225°C (what is this in Fahrenheit? I have no idea...). Bake the rolls for about 10 minutes (until they are slightly bown). Eat some while they are still warm...... And if some are still left the next day, you can warm them up in the microwave on low heat quite nicely.

How do you convert those to whatever system I use in the U.S. (forgot what it's called )? Thanks, if anyone can figure it out. Or I could just head over to Bed Bath & Beyond to buy some metric instruments.....

posted 03-07-200108:58 PM
Whoa, you all had better be glad that you've never tasted anything that me and my friends make! *hehe* I've even been known to mess up macaroni and cheese. Actually, I don't cook too often. When I do it's only simple things like homemade french toast or interesting soups. I don't seem to ever botch up those recipes. Last year I took a home economics in school, and they made us make pizza, tacos, and sticky buns. So, if me and my friends are at home, those are basically the only things we know how to make.

French Toast:~2-4 eggs, depending on how many you're cooking for~A few slices of bread (french bread makes really good french toast!)~cinnamon~milk~butter for the pan

Use your best judgement on the amount of ingredients- I don't remember the exact measurements. I just use what looks right. Just fry the toast in a pan with a little butter until the bread is brown. Then- voila! Homemade french toast.

posted 03-08-200103:44 PM
I cook a lot. Partly because I dislike most prepared food, partly because I enjoy it, partly because my partner has quite a few food allergies, partly because I have some sensitivities to chemicals that are used as preservatives and a few flavorings.

I made one of my favorite SUPER EASY recipes for lunch today, using leftover mashed potatoes from last night. I don't measure things much, I cook "by eye," but this recipe is genuinely so hard to get wrong that I don't mind giving you "by eye" directions (it'll taste good anyway, I promise).

Tante Hanne's Rich Potato Soup(that is actually fairly low-fat, for those who have no gall bladders like me!)

5-7 boiling potatoes (I prefer Carolas or Yellow Finns), peeled, boiled until you can easily pierce one all the way through with a fork or chopstick, and drained

Mash the boiled potatoes with one of the lumps of butter and enough buttermilk to make it a creamy consistency. Set aside.

Melt the second lump of butter in the bottom of a heavy, large-ish saucepan or small stockpot. When it is melted, add the celery and onion and saute over medium heat until the celery is soft and the onion is translucent (perhaps a tiny bit browned, it's okay).

Add the mashed potatoes. Stirring with one hand, slowly pour in enough buttermilk to make the entire mess just barely liquid rather than pasty/mooshy/semi-solid. Continue to stir, but now add regular milk until it is *almost* soup consistency but not quite (keep it a little on the thick side). Put in one bay leaf.

Finally, add enough water to make it soup-textured. Heat thoroughly, but be sure not to overheat or the milk will scorch. Stirring fairly constantly helps prevent scorching.

Serve hot in bowls with a sprinkle of chopped chives on top if you like, or chopped green onion. If you are feeling decadent, a dollop of sour cream is very good as a garnish in this soup.

1 can baby corns (cute!) cut in thirds (the corn, not the can)1 can medium black olives3 Roma tomatoes1 jar marinated artichoke hearts (important!)1 red bell pepper (my fav)1/4 of a sweet onion1/2 a clove of garlicWhatever other veggies, etc., you want1 tiny bit of butter OR a splash of olive oilLittle bit of water

and...Yummy organic whole wheat pasta

Take all the veggies, chop up, etc, throw in medium saucepan, reserving a bit bits for garnishing. Add a bit of water (halfway up the veggies is okay) and the butter or olive oil. Add only half of the artichoke hearts and marinade. Simmer, covered, for awhile. ;]

Then start the pasta.

Drain the pasta once it's done, then toss together with "stuff" mixture. Add in the rest of the artichokes, with or without the oil as you desire.

Melt 3-4 T. butter or margaring over medium heat, stove-top(fry in some chopped onions or pickled jalapenos or mushrooms if you'd like)

Add the same amount of flour as butter, stir until thickened and bubbling a bit

Add about 1 1/2 cups of milk, again, stir until thick and bubbly

Remove from heat, Add lots of grated cheddar(or mozzarella, if you'd rather, or nothing, if you used mushrooms), some garlic, cayenne and chili powder for spiciness, salt pepper, any other yummy spices

Mix up with pasta. Add more cheese if you want, and some canned tomatoes can be yummy (seasoned ones are even better)

Serve right away, or bake at about 350 F, to let the flavours blend a bit, and to give it a bit of a crust

posted 03-12-200112:43 AM
Mine is a little different.... my post is about the perfect smoothie! And healthy too!

It's simple, blend/crush one cup of ice with one cup of water. Pour out the extra water once ice is smoothie-like. Add 1 bananna (fresh!) and one lil cup of strawberry yogurt. (Note: I don't mean literally one cup - I mean the little 6 oz cup thingys. Hopefully you'll know what I'm talking about. tehehe) Blend. Add sugar to taste, or none at all if it's sweet enough already for you! And you can do this with any fruit! And of course you don't have to have yogurt either, I just like the texture and taste it gives the smoothie. Play around 'till you find something you like.

------------------"Always shoot for the moon because even if you miss you'll land among the stars." -Unknown

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